Sample name: Fa-Hien Lena Cave (Phase D)

Reference: O. Wedage, N. Amano, M. C. Langley, K. Douka, J. Blinkhorn, A. Crowther, S. Deraniyagala, N. Kourampas, I. Simpson, N. Perera, A. Picin, N. Boivin, M. Petraglia, and P. Roberts. 2019. Specialized rainforest hunting by Homo sapiens 45, 000 years ago. Nature Communications 10(1):739 [ER 3769]

Lithology: siltstone

Taphonomic context: cave,human accumulation

Archaeology: bone tools,burials,hearths,stone tools,other artifacts

Habitat comments: "The cave, on the slope of a gneiss cliff, has a c. 30 m by 20 m east-facing entrance, an interior that extends c. 10 m into the cliff, and two main chambers (termed shelters A and B). The site is divided into four distinct phases, corresponding to concentrations of charcoal, faunal remains, and artifacts, including osseous tools, shell beads, and quartz flakes; each represent the major periods of human occupation of the cave".
"Phase D consists of pebbly loams and clayey and sandy silt deposits with laminated ash representing intermittent human occupation and colluvial inwash. The deposits yielded a variety of evidence for human activity, including heavily burned/calcined faunal remains, shell beads, bone tools, and ochre fragments, in addition to micromorphological analyses of sediments evidencing in situ burning. Human-mediated deposits evidence hearth building and maintenance, cooking, consumption and discard of food remains, and possibly the use of palm fronds for the construction of artefacts. These deposits also contained the oldest human fossils so far found in Sri Lanka. They include the remains of a 5.5–6.5 year-old child, mixed with remains of at least two infants as well as a young adult female".

Life forms: bats,carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,other small mammals,lizards,snakes,turtles,frogs,fishes

Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash

Sample size: 439 specimens

Years: 2009 - 2012

Sampling comments: "Fa-Hien Lena was systematically excavated over several seasons from 1986 to 1988, and from 2009 to 2012. The paper presents the results of the analyses of materials from the 2009 to 2012 excavations. Shelter A, the larger of the cave’s chambers, was excavated to a depth of over 6 m". No further excavation details are provided, although "all bone fragments from sedimentary contexts with secure radiocarbon dates were included in the analysis".

Sample number: 4042

Contributor: Benjamin Carter

Enterer: Benjamin Carter

Created: 2022-10-29 15:04:05

Modified: 2023-05-30 03:19:20